Dad had taken the cream to town on
this Saturday morning and had left us to put in the kitchen stove wood
before the
rains of Fall commenced.

If there was an easier way to do a task, Ken could certainly
figure it
out. Today was no exception. I think he spent most of the morning
building sides for his wooden express wagon that would enable more wood
to be piled on it thus less trips would need to be made from the
woodpile to the woodshed. He attached a couple of pieces of leather
harness to act as load securers and we were in the business of wood
hauling.

As the rank grew higher in the windowless shed, I stood on a
wobbly overturned
tea box and piled the sticks that Cliff passed to me.

Suddenly, I saw a shadow in the doorway and turned to find Gramp
standing there. He took one look at Ken’s wagon and said, “It is too
bad that you weren’t
around when I was hauling pit props to the boxcars at the
BarnesvilleSiding as we certainly could have used some modifications to
the sleds and the ramp
to make the job easier.”

As usual, I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

Once Dad arrived home, he explained that many of the local farmers
cut trees that were too small for logs and peeled them, and sold them
as pit props
to be used in the bracing of mine shafts. These timbers were loaded by
hand
into boxcars and then hauled off by the St. Martins train to be sent on
to
a mine in some unknown place.

Although the St. Martins Train had originally been planned to go
only from Upham to St. Martins to get the lumber to the shipping
vessels, the track
was extended to join up with the big-train line at Hampton. In fact I
found
a map in the Land Registry Office that showed plans had been in the
works
to build a railway from Coldbrook, near Saint John to join the St.
Martins
line near the Barnesville Station House.

For those of you who have never head of this railway, it was
incorporated in 1871 as the St. Martins and Upham Railway Company and
the line was opened in 1878.

Speaking of the big railway lines, in 1992, David Nason wrote a
book on Railways of New Brunswick that explored the development and
construction of the many lines in New Brunswick, ending in the early
twentieth century when the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National
railway owned or controlled every line.

David describes the numerous branch lines, the expectations of
their shareholders and the small communities they served. These
railways did not
always fulfil the dreams of the citizens; indeed, it was not unusual
for
railways to be constructed the wrong way, or with the wrong gauge, or
with
too little capital, or simply too late.

David states in his introduction: “At the peak of railway
operations in the 1930s, there were over 2000 miles of railway track in
the province of New Brunswick.”

The book gives information on the St. Andrews and Quebec Railway,
The European and North American, The Western Extension, The
Intercolonial Railway, The New Brunswick and Canadian Pacific Railways,
The National Transcontinental and Canadian National Railways as well as
details on the Branch Line Railways of the Fredericton Branch Railway,
The Carleton - City of Saint John Branch Railroad Company, The Albert
Railway Company, The Petitcodiac and Elgin Railway
Company, The St. Martins Railway Company, The Grand Southern Railway,
The
Kent Northern Railway, The St. John Bridge and Railway Company, The New
Brunswick
and Prince Edward Island Railway Company, The Canada Eastern Railway
Company,
The Moncton and Northumberland Strait Railway Company, The Fredericton
and
St. Mary’s Railway Bridge Company, The Temiscouata Railway, The Tobique
Valley
Railway Company, The Caraquet and Gulf Shore Railway Company, The York
and
Carleton Railway Company, The International Railway Company of New
Brunswick,
The Central Railway Company - The New Brunswick Coal and Railway
Company
and the Fredericton and Grand Lake Coal and Railway Company, The
Southampton
Railway Company and the Saint John - Quebec Railway - Valley Line.

If any members in your family tree were associated with the
railway, you will find Railways of New Brunswick by David Nason very
informative. David
tells not only of the location of the lines but in many cases reveals
information
on the sod turning, cost of construction, name change, profits and
losses.
He has included several pictures in the 136 page publication.

Query 912Burns - Faulkner - Bettle: I am seeking information on members
of
the family of Richard Dixon Burns and Isabella Faulkner of Upham, Kings
County,
New Brunswick. William Tweedale Burns, was born there on March 14,
1864.
Charles Lyman Burns was born November 06, 1871 and died October
03,
1918 but I do not know his place of death. His birth and death dates
are
recorded in his sister Emma Bigelow Burns's bible. Charlotte Ames Burns
was
born on March 01, 1853 and was the second wife of John Alexander
Bettle,
the son of Joseph or Josiah Bettle and Phebe Taylor. Their marriage
took
place on December 02, 1873 in Kings County. John Bettle was born July
05,
1827 in Passekeag, Kings County and died March 14, 1905 in Passekeag
and
was buried in Titus Hill Cemetery. I would like to find Charlotte Burns
Bettle’s
date and place of death as well as her burial place. I was also
appreciate
information on the Faulkner family of Hammond Parish of Kings County.
- Mary Bates, P.O. Box 82, Walpole, MA., 02081-0082, USA. E-mail
to rickma809@erols.com.

Ruby is a genealogy buff. Readers
are invited to send their New Brunswick genealogical queries toher atrmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca.When E-Mailing please put Yesteryear Families
in the Subject line. Please include in the query, your name and postal
address as someone reading the newspaper, may have information to share
with you but not have access to E-mail. Queries should be no more than
45 words in length.